Shadows of Self

The role of god and religion is complex in the entire Mistborn series, and Shadows of Self explores the difficult questions that a god would have to face and the consequences of any choice. The novel takes the doubts that so many humans have about gods and turns the story around to consider the perspective of a god who must find balance in every choice he makes. The characters of the Mistborn world, Scadrial, question their god as well, clashing with their god in direct and indirect ways.

Paalm, the corrupted kandra, represents an extreme of rebellion against god. Angered by Harmony’s choice to push her into “dying” (as Lessie) and hurting Wax, Paalm becomes obsessed with freeing herself from the god’s control. Paalm spent years acting as an agent for gods, first for the Lord Ruler and then for Harmony, and this gave her an inside perspective on the ways Harmony tries to push and pull at human beings to create necessary outcomes. She claims that “Harmony crushes his palm against society, smothering it. He claims to not interfere, but then moves us like pieces on a board” (175). She taunts Wax with this belief, trying to free him by hinting at the ways Harmony has controlled his own life: “Do you know, Wax, how long he cultivated you? […] How he sent you to be hardened by the Roughs, so he could draw you back in once you had aged properly, like leather being cured” (343). Paalm becomes embittered by her anger and driven by a dark purpose: to free human beings from Harmony by driving them to extremes of emotions such as rage. She herself does not offer a solution, however, and only attempts to worsen the struggles and contribute to destruction. She is emblematic of some populist political leaders in history, and she symbolizes an anger that will lead only to violence.

When Waxillium discovers the truth, that his love, Lessie, was actually Paalm the kandra the entire time, and that Harmony had pushed her to “die” so that Wax would return to Elendel, he also begins to turn away from the god. When he is angry with Harmony, Marasi suggests that Harmony may not have known that Paalm would choose to seduce Wax. He challenges her: “Then what kind of God is He? What good is a God like Him, Marasi?” (370). Although Wax knows that Harmony does exist, since he has spoken with him, he has lost all faith in Harmony as a trustworthy god. This represents the doubts many in the contemporary world have in a god and in faith. It emblematizes an existential crisis that comes at a dangerous time, when the powerful are exploiting the lower classes and economic inequality is rampant, and may contribute to the struggles of this crisis as well.

Seeing Wax’s pain, Marasi challenges MeLaan as well, wondering why Harmony had to put Wax through so much pain. MeLaan, however, provides an alternative perspective: “And what would you have Harmony do, woman? Give us all the answers? Lead us by the noses, like Paalm swore that He did? Turn us all into pieces on a board for His amusement?” (374). She describes how she imagines Harmony’s situation:

Can you imagine what it must be like? Knowing that any action you take is going to help some, but hurt others? […] Harmony does the best He can – the best possible, by the very definition. Yes, he hurt Wax. He hurt him badly. But He put the pain where He knew it could be borne (374).

When Sazed, the Terrisman steward from the original Mistborn trilogy took on the powers of both Preservation and Ruin, combining his knowledge of all the religions of the world’s history to save and reshape the world, he took on the responsibility of maintaining balance between the two forces. They had been separate once, fighting for control of the world, but he brought their essences into himself and into unity with one another. To do so, he now must make difficult choices while also allowing humans some level of autonomy. Unfortunately, that often leads to pain for some, so he must make an additional choice, in the book’s view: choose the people who can bear the pain and still do good. MeLaan’s perspective on Harmony’s situation provides a deeper view, in the novel’s argument, into the complexities of life that humans, on their smaller scales, cannot understand. MeLaan’s comments suggest that by providing people only with positive experiences, Harmony would in fact be controlling them and not allowing for free will. The novel attempts to find meaning and affirmation for those surviving with trauma.

Law and morality conflict in Shadows of Self, illustrating how sometimes the two do not align. Law is created to govern people’s behavior and create a functioning society, but sometimes, whether through good intentions, evolving versions of morality, or some rulers’ desire to oppress certain groups, certain laws may not be moral, and some seemingly moral choices may not be legal.

Wax and Marasi in particular struggle with this moral-legal tension. Both of them are sworn to follow and enforce the law, and they both value the importance of laws, but they also understand how the law can be used to oppress and how the upper classes often twist the law to help themselves and hurt others. Wax observes the city and acknowledges that “[t]he men running the strikes did have a grievance. He’d found some of the same problematic conditions among the few factories he owned […] Difficult times. And he didn’t have the answers, not to those problems” (109). Wax has done his best, as a lord with power and influence, to improve the lives of those who work for him, but by doing so, in the novel’s view, he has experienced firsthand the price increases that can happen when one raises salaries and implements shorter work hours. He also values the rule of law; despite his sympathy for those who are threatening riots, Wax insists that they must protest lawfully. He shuts down the protestors who block a main thoroughfare because it is illegal, not because he disagrees with their grievances. This becomes a moral struggle for him, but he always leans on the side of the law, hoping to use law to help those less fortunate. His uncle, Edwarn, takes the opposite view: “The law is not something holy, son. It’s just a reflection of the ideals of those lucky enough to be in charge” (277). Edwarn, however, uses this as an excuse to pursue his own agenda, joining the Set and claiming that he is doing something to help the world, although his intentions are not entirely moral. The novel uses Wax’s faith in the law to question the relationship between the law and ethics and simply how moral the laws in a society are. The laws in this case, and in essentially all societies throughout the world, simply serve those in power and help to justify worsening oppression.

Marasi struggles to balance her desire to change the city in important ways with her responsibility, as a constable, to uphold the law. She discovers governor Innate’s corruption, and it bothers her that she must consistently let the evidence she has discovered sit in her desk, as it is not enough to take action against Innate. When the dust settles after Paalm/Bleeder’s defeat, Marasi believes she can use the evidence she has discovered, including the letters in Innate’s desk, to put “Innate” (MeLaan in disguise) on trial so that she can put his collaborators behind bars. MeLaan strips away this hope: “’You really think,’ MeLaan said dryly, ‘that Harmony would let me sit at trial and testify falsely against people I don’t even know? It would make a mockery of justice, kids’” (372). Marasi pushes back, but MeLaan breaks down the situation, pointing out that without the real Innate alive, they do not know how real those letters are; their case rests on Innate as a witness, but using someone disguised as him would be wrong, as he cannot then speak truthfully for himself. Marasi learns that Harmony himself struggles with the line between morality and law, as he needs to allow humans to self-govern. Some of their actions may not be right, but that must be fixed through legal and moral means among humans, rather than by executive action and control by Harmony. Although there is a god in this novel, the author argues that much immorality is the result of people’s actions and decisions and that those people deserve the blame. These injustices can only be corrected when those not in power take control of society and stop allowing those in power to exploit others for personal gain.

The antagonist, Paalm/Bleeder, represents a different extreme than Wax and Marasi, as she has developed her own rules for morality. Having watched the ways Harmony moves and nudges people, Paalm/Bleeder believes that freedom is the most important thing and anything else is wrong. To achieve this end, she is willing to do anything, even immoral acts like murder. Wax considers her fixation on freedom, and he comes to the conclusion that “freedom was not lack of responsibilities—it was being able to do what was right, without having to worry if it was also wrong” (290). Wax, in the novel’s view, does not believe in allowing everyone to have ultimate freedom; instead, he views freedom as a state of ultimate morality, where decisions can have clear moral outcomes. Unfortunately, even Harmony cannot seem to create perfect moral outcomes with his omnipotence. This makes one wonder if Wax is ultimately correct in his assertion. The novel questions how many of the world’s injustices are the result of human actions and decisions, and it suggests the responsibility of evil actions and exploitation might lie with those in power.